Asim Umar

Asim Umar (1974-23 September 2019) was leader of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent from 2014 until his death in 2019.

Biography
Asim Umar was born in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1974, and he graduated from seminary in 1991 before moving to Pakistan. While studying in Karachi, he came to have strong anti-democratic and pro-jihad views, and he became a Karachi madrassa teacher and translated jihadist literature from Pashto to Urdu. He later met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and joined HUJI, with his al-Qaeda affiliation solidifying after the 2007 Siege of Lal Masjid. In 2009, Umar's father disowned him after discovering his involvement with the TTP. He became a prominent jihadist propagandist, and, in April 2014, he became the head of al-Qaeda's sharia committee in Pakistan. In September 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed Umar leader of the new al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent branch, and, on 23 September 2019, he was killed in a joint US-Afghan military raid in Helmand Province alongside six other militants and 40 civilians.